Nice Things Said Re: EWN

"Dan Wickett is serious about a good read. But the EWN email list doesn't just deliver his sure-footed reviews; it also brings you news and connections to other writers. Sign up now - he understands what readers want to know about books." Quinn Dalton, author, Bulletproof Girl

1.

"Mr. Wickett is that rarely heard from but best of all possible reviewers - the dedicated and knowledgeable fan. He writes clean-cutting and fresh reviews that represent a sensibility unspoiled by over-exposure to the biz of books, but deeply in love with them."
Daniel Woodrell, author, Winter's Bone

3.

"Dan Wickett is a reader's best friend. Not only does he read and trenchantly review new work, but he looks back to books that deserve ongoing readership. I've lost track of the number of times he's led me to boks that I overlooked (or never knew about), and that were a delight. There aren't many reviewers I will let shape my library, but Dan Wickett is one."
Erin McGraw, author, The Baby Tree

May 09, 2018

I had the pleasure of reading some of Pendarvis' earlier works published by MacAdam/Cage in the past. When Guy Intoci took over as Dzanc's Executive Director, he brought Pendarvis with him from M/C for a great story collection, which we published in April 2016!

DESCRIPTION

These stories are linked by humor, setting, themes, and recurring characters—cat lovers, murderers, gamblers, ghosts, and fools—but mostly by the movie stars, gods, and goddesses who look down on us struggling mortals with a mixture of benevolence and wrath. From Scarlett Johansson to Joan Crawford, Clint Eastwood to Jerry Lewis, they represent the impossible ideals to which lesser beings turn for hope in an otherwise baffling world.

PRAISE FOR MOVIE STARS

“Every minute you are not yet reading Jack Pendarvis should be an interminable agony.”

—Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential and Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi

“I like all of the yearning weirdos who wander through the work of Jack Pendarvis. You will like them too, because he reminds us we are all yearning weirdos, looking to the stars, movie and otherwise, for some fate and guidance. These stories are true ha ha funny, courageously strange, humane and affecting, and really, really good.”

“Movie Stars is a collection of short subjects that hit like blockbusters.”

—Patton Oswalt, author of Silver Screen Fiend

PRAISE FOR JACK PENDARVIS

“Riotous…often surprises a giggling reader by nailing the emptiness of his characters’ self-absorption.”

—Entertainment Weekly

“Hilarious…when Pendarvis is merely funny he is still really, really funny.”

—Esquire

“A writer whose stories work a little like Magnolia cupcakes: you can’t stop until you’re lightheaded.”

—Village Voice

“His characters are quirky and grotesque, infuriating and hilarious, and his stories’ unexpected twists are both impressive and thought-provoking…. Pendarvis hits the heart as often as the funny bone.”

—Publishers Weekly

“At once the funniest and saddest thing I’ve ever read…. You laugh at what’s on the page; you’re haunted by what’s not…. Pendarvis isn’t afraid to let [humor] seep into his stories to mingle with the poignancy and poetry there…. In the end, all these stories are unfailingly kind to their characters and respectful of their cracked dreams. Pendarvis’ people want to be noticed, they want to be heard, they want to be recognizes as special. In other words, they’re human. Only funnier.”